ABSTRACT
Native Taiwanese women have much more power in their families than Mainlander women. The rate of womens participation in their husbands' firms remained steady across all size categories, with wives working in approximately half of the tanneries in each category. The life histories of boss-wives reveal that women are not necessarily subordinate to their husbands in family firms. In the many firms that are literally owned by families, the owner's wife is then referred to as the thau-ke-niu, or "boss-wife." The female term is complimentary rather than diminutive, often with an implication of participation and co-ownership in the enterprise. Women who work hard in the public sphere receive a great deal of attention in the Taiwanese press. The gendered division of labor between inside/private/female jobs and outside/public/male jobs should not be overdrawn, as the women who specialize in finances and accounting must deal with bankers and government officials.
